Latest news with #socialhomes
Irish Times
23-07-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Planning permission granted for new library to serve Crumlin and Drimnagh
A new library for Drimnagh and Crumlin has moved a step closer after planning permission was granted. The site, on Crumlin Road and Rafter's Lane, Dublin 12, will also be redeveloped for 38 social homes. The location of the new library is within the grounds of the former secondary school Ardscoil Éanna, which was set up by former Irish Volunteer James O'Byrne in 1939. The school, which was founded on the principles of Patrick Pearse's St Enda's School in Ranelagh, closed in 2016 due to financial difficulties. It operated out of a historic house and is a protected structure. READ MORE The vacant site at a former funeral home and Ardscoil Éanna on Crumlin Road and Rafter's Road, Crumlin, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times Conservation repair works and alterations are proposed to Ardscoil Éanna House to transform it to cafe use on the ground floor and library use on the first floor. The development also includes a new single storey and part two-storey branch library building. The other side of the site, where a former funeral home is located, will be redeveloped for social homes. Artist's impression of plans for the library and housing site. Image: A drawing of the planned redevelopment. Source: The planning application for the new homes will be 'submitted shortly', Dublin City Council said. 'In order to prepare the site for the construction of these homes it is necessary to demolish the old funeral home,' it said. 'Demolition works will take place in the coming months.' The local authority also said it was aware of 'false reports' circulating on social media about the future use of the site. City councillor Daithí Doolan said there had been claims online that the area was going to be used to house asylum seekers. 'There was no shred of truth in this. It was never discussed. It was never mentioned,' the Sinn Féin councillor said. 'The city council bought the two sites [the school and funeral home] with the sole purpose of putting a library and social housing on it. It was total nonsense. 'The city council bought the site where the school was when it shut down. Then they heard the undertakers were coming up and thought we could have a bigger footprint.' Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times Cllr Doolan said there was a 'long-time campaign' to secure a library for Drimnagh. 'The issue was we could never find an appropriate site,' he said. 'This came along. It was bought with the beautiful protected building in the middle. It's perfect. At the moment there are libraries in Dolphin's Barn and Walkinstown, but they are quite small.' The council said detailed design on the library will begin early next year after the appointment of a design team. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times The library will consist of a combined adult and junior library space, public study space, an events room, meeting rooms and other spaces on the ground floor. The first floor is to include a reading room, meeting rooms and staff spaces. The development also includes a new footpath linking Crumlin Road to Rafter's Lane. One of Ardscoil Éanna's first teachers was Patrick Pearse's sister Margaret, who taught at the school for many years. The school was rare in being a Catholic one run by lay people and in private ownership. It remained in the O'Byrne family until its closure, with actor Gabriel Byrne among its past pupils.
Sky News
11-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Crunching the numbers behind Labour's pledge to build 180,000 new social homes
Why you can trust Sky News Angela Rayner is set to announce plans to build 180,000 new social homes in the next decade, as the government seeks to "turn the tide on the housing crisis". It would be six times greater than the number of social homes built in the 10 years up to 2024 - and forms part of a drive to build 300,000 new social and affordable properties by 2035. The plan is backed by a £39bn investment announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in last month's spending review. 2:29 The deputy prime minister called on the social housing sector to "work together to turn the tide of the housing crisis", and said the investment was "the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation". "We are seizing this golden opportunity with both hands to transform this country by building the social and affordable homes we need, so we create a brighter future where families aren't trapped in temporary accommodation and young people are no longer locked out of a secure home," she said. Ms Rayner's target for social and affordable housing is part of a wider long-term plan - also due to be published on Wednesday - setting out how the government will build both more houses and improve housing standards. Here, Sky News looks at what the plan will mean for the country, how it compares to previous programmes, and how it could be affected by the increased cost of construction. 3:17 Crunching the numbers The £39bn 10-year Affordable Homes Programme is an ambitious investment in affordable housing, representing a real terms increase from the previous programme of over £1bn annually. However, claims of the "biggest boost in a generation" may be slightly overblown. When factoring in inflation, the annual investment of £3.9bn falls short of the equivalent £4.5bn annually from 2008 to 2011 under the previous Labour government. This was however a notably short-term uplift, and the sector will welcome the stability of the new settlement which secures funding for 10 years - compared with five years or fewer under previous programmes. The programme sets out to deliver 30,000 affordable homes per year on average, with at least 18,000 of those being for social rent, rather than other tenures such as shared ownership. This would be more than twice the number under the previous programme, which is estimated to have delivered about 8,000 homes annually for social rent by its completion. Similarly, however, it is fewer than were delivered by the previous Labour Affordable Homes Programme, which was over 30,000 a year from 2008 to 2011. A further challenge to the government's goal of a "generational" uplift is the increasing cost of building, meaning they may face diminishing returns on their investment. The previous Affordable Homes Programme initially aimed to deliver 180,000 homes, which was revised down significantly to between 110,000 and 130,000 due to increasing costs and delays. This government can expect to face a similarly challenging economic landscape, particularly with their ambition to deliver a greater share of socially rented homes - the most expensive type of affordable housing to build.
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Plan to build 32-house estate on 450-space car park in Welshpool
A 450-space car park could be turned into an affordable housing under county council homes would be built on the Berriew Street car park in Welshpool, Powys, leaving 56 parking spaces, if the development goes Dorrance, deputy leader of Powys County Council and the cabinet member for housing, said the local authority had set a target of 350 social homes for rent by 2031 but land for development was in "short supply".When questioned about legality of transferring the land between council departments, head of housing services Andy Thompson said the move met legal requirements. Dorrance, of Labour, told the economy, residents and community scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday there was a high demand for social housing in Welshpool.A report found 414 households on the housing register placed Welshpool as their first are 33 homeless households living in temporary accommodation in the town, with an average of 370 days before they are cost of transferring the car park from the council's highways, transport and recycling department to housing was £280,000 while the market value would be £525, Democrat councillor Corinna Kenyon-Wade queried how the figures were reply, Mr Thompson explained they were based on how much developing houses to be sold at market value would be worth, and the difference in building homes for social councillor Peter Lewington said he wanted a more "balanced picture" to be reported so that the loss of car parking spaces on town centre businesses could be analysed.A meeting of the cabinet will consider the plan on Tuesday. This article was written by a trusted journalist and then edited for length and style with the help of AI, before being checked again by a BBC Journalist. It's part of a pilot.
ABC News
03-07-2025
- General
- ABC News
Seniors who call Shark Bay in Western Australia home trade caravans for a house
Nearly everywhere in Australia is grappling with a lack of affordable housing. The small West Australian coastal hamlet of Shark Bay, with fewer than 900 residents, is no different. Bronwyn Hook has lived in the area for 11 years in a caravan. "There was nowhere else to live … I couldn't afford rent," she said. So when the state government and Shire of Shark Bay finished construction of 12 social homes for people over 60, Ms Hook could not contain her excitement. "I've got a toilet … this shower is more than twice the size of [mine]," Ms Hook said. "I'll be able to stretch my arms and move without hitting the walls. "Being able to afford it … it means a lot to the older folks. They don't have to leave town." Denham is the main town in the shire, 830 kilometres north of Perth. At the time of publication, there were no homes for sale or rent in Denham on any real estate websites. The 12 homes were constructed and designed for people aged 60 and over with a connection to the town. Shire of Shark Bay president Cheryl Cowell said the new homes freed up some places for private rentals, but they were not enough to solve the issue. "We've certainly got no shortage of new applicants for the remaining units," she said. The primary reasons people left town were a lack of housing, medical services and education. "We really lack medical facilities … we only have a doctor, if we're lucky, one day a week," Cr Cowell said. Growing the town of Denham has been a balancing act, with a lack of services slowing growth as well as a lack of properties to attract doctors and teachers. Cr Cowell said after 20 years of no new Government Regional Officer Housing (GROH) houses in Denham, they would see six constructed. "We'll be looking at more GROH housing if we can get the government funding," she said. "We were way behind the eight ball. "That should open up a great chunk of more rentals for people wanting to come up here." Another challenge for the shire was being able to get builders to come and stay. "Builders are pretty short on the ground. Tradies are so hard to keep," Cr Cowell said. And with tourism the biggest industry for the area, the shire had no plans to crack down on holiday home rentals. "I'd say probably at least half, maybe a bit more of the people actually own their own property here," Cr Cowell said. "There are the elements of wanting to move here when they retire, so they're building and renting out in the meantime. "We're more than happy to carry on in that regard because we don't really have any other major industries." Ms Hook said for many locals, the balancing act had not been reached. "There are a lot of houses that are accommodation for tourists," she said. "It would be good if some of them were more for people who were living here, like families that need accommodation if they're working here." Long-time resident Gloria Whitby also just moved into one of the new social houses. "[It's] a little sense of community with all the people in the same place, same phase of life," she said. Ms Whitby wanted to stay in Shark Bay for the rest of her life but wanted to see the education shortages addressed so her family could stay as well. "That's the only thing I'd like to see. A nice big high school here," she said. Her granddaughter, Brittany, seriously considered leaving the area because she could not get a rental and she wanted her children to access better education. "We did have to almost leave town because it took us a while to get a rental," Brittany said.
Irish Times
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Homelessness is ‘too high and we have to do better', admits Harris
' Homelessness is too high in Ireland and we have to work every day to do better and do more,' Tánaiste Simon Harris has said. He made the admission after fresh criticism on how homelessness is affecting children in emergency accommodation and news coverage about rough sleepers in Dublin. On Tuesday, Nuala Ward, a senior official at the office of the Ombudsman for Children, told the Oireachtas housing committee that child homelessness is a 'national shame' with a 'devastating impact' on the children involved. Of the 15,580 homeless people living in emergency accommodation in April, 4,775 were children. READ MORE Separately, The Irish Times reported on how up to a dozen rough sleepers are living in a makeshift camp surrounded by rubbish and rats under the M50 road . Mr Harris admitted that homelessness is 'too high', while also defending the record of the Government in its attempts to resolve the crisis. He said the key to tackling the homelessness issue is the 'supply of a whole variety of homes, including social homes'. He said the Government is working on making it easier for local authorities to get through the approval process for new social homes more quickly. [ Opinion: The housing crisis could erode Ireland's middle class to a point of collapse Opens in new window ] The Fine Gael leader also said: 'Last year, we did see the highest number of social homes allocated than any year since the 1970s, so that's part of the record of my party and of Fianna Fáil in Government, actually delivering more social homes last year than any time in my lifetime.' He said the Government's 'North Star' is to 'get to 300,000 homes over the next five years, and I believe that's what success will look like'. Mr Harris also said: 'I don't in any way, any way, underestimate the scale of the housing crisis . It is a housing emergency. 'It's a very real and acute emergency for people, particularly families, challenged in relation to their housing today, and that's why we need to break down every silo that exists in the State. 'Housing can't just be an emergency for the Minister for Housing, the Department of Housing or people in need of housing. 'It has to be an emergency for every part of the State' including the chief executives of local authorities and utilities such as Uisce Éireann and the ESB and 'every county councillor who needs to realise their job isn't to object to houses, but build houses'. Mr Harris was speaking as he accompanied Minister for Housing James Browne to officially open 133 new cost-rental homes delivered by South Dublin County Council in Tallaght. Mr Browne, a Fianna Fáil TD, said homelessness was 'foremost' in his mind when he became Minister earlier this year and the first thing he did was meet homelessness organisations and visit emergency accommodation. [ Analysis: Tough decisions to tackle housing crisis are under way – but will they work? Opens in new window ] He said higher rents cause higher homelessness internationally, and that by increasing supply 'we get rents down and we'll also help to get homelessness down'. He said the extension of Rent Pressure Zones and plans to improve security of tenure for tenants 'will help to prevent people going into homelessness as well.' Mr Browne said: '40 per cent of everybody going into homelessness is as a result of a notice to quit' and when the new legislation comes in people will have security of tenure. While homeless numbers reached a new record high in April Mr Browne also said there is 'record prevention' of homelessness as well and people are being exited from homelessness as quickly as possible.
